Recently, my appreciation for random tables has skyrocketed. I’ve spent some time analyzing my weakness as a GM, what kinds of things I have trouble coming up with on the fly, and I realized that getting some random tables that cover those areas that I’m weak in are a huge help. I prefer to just randomly pick from the table, rather than rolling, because it saves time, it’s easier to find a result that’s appropriate, and you can avoid duplication that way (how many times have you rolled percentile dice on a d100 table and gotten the same result you made four rolls ago, even though there are still 85 results that you haven’t rolled yet?)

As for 30 Things Can Happen by Creative Mountain Games, I have to say that this is one of the best random events products I’ve found, mainly because of its great organization.

There are three main categories of events: City, Country and Underground.

Each of those categories is divided into ten sub-categories. For example, the sub-categories under City are: 1) at the city gate; 2) on the street; 3) alleys and slums; 4) taverns; 5) an outdoor market; 6) an arena; 7) a castle or keep; 8) shops 9) a temple; 10) during a chase.

Country and Underground are divided up the same way. For example, Underground sub-categories include things such as: at the entrance, at an intersection, in a narrow passage, near a stream… ten sub-categories in all. Country cub-categories include things like: at a crossroads, near a waterfall, at a festival, the forest, by the sea… again, ten sub-categories in all.

So three categories with ten sub-categories each, that’s a total of 30 sub-categories. Each of those sub-categories lists 30 random events, for a total of 900.

But it gets better. Each of those sub-categories is divided once again three-ways, with ten events listed under each. For example, the City category/Arena sub-category has ten results for people participating in the arena contests, ten results for the audience, and ten results for the animals that are in the arena. The Country category/by-the-Sea subcategory has ten results for events on the beach, ten results sticking out of the water, and ten results underwater.

And of those 900 random events, some of them have still even more options, from which you can randomly roll for using a d6, or just select yourself. For example, two guards may be arguing over either their pay, their spouses, or a local tournament. The mushrooms that the PC finds could either be poisonous and delicious, edible and delicious, or colorful but disgusting. From what I’ve found, the majority of these options are in the City category, and rest are Underground.

The one way they could have made this better is if Creative Mountain had linked the Table of Contents to the page it was pointing to, but it’s a small complaint since it only takes a few seconds to get to the appropriate page manually. Over all, I’m quite impressed with this product, and I wish that other random event/encounter products were as well organized.

This book is quite inventive, and the 30 things are split into 3 sections of 10 things each on different themes, making them useful in more specific situations. Overall good value.As a randomizer to jog the old creative juices into action this is quite useful, but the situations are very rudimentary, nothing like complete plots. I got it at a sale; the full price feels somewhat high.

WHAT WORKS: It's a book of random tables...and it gives me an excuse to use my d30. Hard to top that. Especially since the tables are set up to use d10s or d20s as well, maximizing utility.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: $6 might sound like a tad much for 30 pages of random tables. Obviously, if you don't like random results, look elsewhere.

CONCLUSION: Creative Mountain Games knew this was going to get high marks from me, because I mention random tables all the time. Strong recommendation if you're into that sort of thing. Stay away if you don't.

“30 Things Can Happen!” is a sourcebook from Creative Mountain Games, written by Mark Clover. This book gives the Game Master a rather large selection of interesting plot hooks and events, much like a wandering monster encounter chart. The “things” are broken down into reasonably managed tables for selection. There is no fluff here, Clover brings us straight to the tables.

The book is divided into three main sections, “While in a City”, While in the Country”, and “While Underground.” Each main section is divided into 10 tables, each with three subtables of ten “things” each. A die rolling mechanic involving d30's, d20's, d10's and d6's is given to make random selections, though I found the book's main utility to be in providing inspiration for adventure writing plot hooks, rather than as an in-game GM utility.

The book comes in at a well-laid-out 34 pages. The typeface is easy to read, and the tables are numbered well, for ease of use. The art is black-and-white stock images, including some by the great Howard Pyle. The illustrations fit the themes of the tables well (with one exception). It is nice to see some classic medieval style artwork in an RPG publication, rather than the 'punk' or 'hyperdeformed' styles that seem prevalent with some publishers.

I recommend “30 Things Can Happen” as a GM resource, and give it 5 out of 5 stars. Regularly priced at $6.00, this PDF is useful for master GM's and novices alike. The right balance of short but inspiring plot points and adventure hooks; and a good price point, make this a must download.

This is the kind of product I love, tables that help me add elements to my games I would never think of on my own. Plus the author chose a nice selection of "open" art that almost always fits the section of tables it is inserted into, and the others are at least close. If you like to present opportunities to role play you will really like these tables, because most of these descriptions can drag an inquiring mind into a role play encounter that could be ran serious or even humorous. They can also easily turn into hooks for an off the cuff adventure scenario, or do some pre planning to turn them into planted hooks. If you love using tables to help inspire you, break those mental blocks, or to take even you as the GM in directions you don't know where they go, this is a PDF for you. Plus it gives your D30 purpose! Or if you don't own a D30 you can use the D6 and D10 method, which is made even easier because each Table is broken down into 3 sub tables of 10 items each. So roll the D6 to determine which of the 3 sub tables, then the D10 to get the specific result. I really feel you can't go wrong with this if you like using tables in the first place, and if you have never used tables before, this has a great chance of turning you into a fan of such products.

I've been a fan of Creative Mountain Games ever since Mark put out the 3.5E SRD. This has turned into my SRD bible, if you will.

Creative Mountain Game's latest is 30 Things Can Happen! It's an assortment of random tables to add flavor to your adventures as they are happening. They add the little things that bring life and spontaneity to the world your party is adventuring in.

You get 30 tables broken down by category: While in a City, While in the Country and While Underground. Each table is further broken down by thirds. So, depending on how you look at it, you have 30 tables with 30 entries each, or you have 90 subtables with 10 entires each. Priced at $4.50, you are effectively paying 15 cents a table (or 5 cents a subtable). A fair price in my humble opinion.

This will be one of my go-to resources in my upcoming sandbox style campaign.